Dish-container



F. W. BEARDSLEY.

DISH CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED oc.4,1912. nENEwED fes. 10.1916.

Patented Anwl 29, 1916.

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i aar FRANK W. BEARDSLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SEABOARD SPECIALTY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DISH-CONTAINER.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, i916.

Application filed. October 4, 1912, Serial No. 723,877. Renewed February 10, 1916. Serial No. 77,542.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W.vBEARDsLEY, Y

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, Richmond borough, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dish-Containers, which improvements are fully set forth in the fol-` lowing specification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices of that class quite extensively availed of for holding dishes and similar articles to be cleansed, particularly in conjunction with the conveying mechanism of so-called power dish-washing machines, such devices being appropriately designated dish-containers.

The object of this invention is to provide a dish-container which shall be simple and comparatively inexpensive as regards construction; durable, efficient and reliable in practical service; which shall embody an element adjustable in a manner to facilitate, respectively, the reception and retention of a dish, or similar article, therein, and its delivery therefrom; and which shall possess certain well-defined advantages over prior analogous constructions.

'Ihe invention consists in the combinations, details and parts whereby, together with the novel disposition and relative arrangement of said parts, the attainment of the foregoing object is rendered practicable, all of which will be hereinafter more specifically referred to and set forth in the appended claims.

'Ihe invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference-numerals denote like parts throughout the respective views, as to which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a dishcontainer embodying my said improvements, the retaining-rack thereof occupying its semi-inverted, or delivery, position. Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof, the retainingrack afore-named occupying its vertical or closed position, and the near side-members and link of the construction being partially broken away, respectively, to disclose the corresponding parts at the oppositev side thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the hanger, detached, the scale being enlarged. Fig. l is a detail view, partly in section, showing more clearly the disposition of certain minor elements availed of for anti-friction purposes in connection with the retaining-rack of my improved container. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating more clearly varying adjustments of the retaining-rack, with a dish thereon, relatively to the upright support made use of.

In carrying out my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, I make use of an upright, openwork support, extended forwardly and somewhat upwardly at its lower margin, and comprising opposite side-members 2, 2', connected by cross-bars, as 3, 3', which bars are in turn connected by a series of upright wires 4;, collectively curved somewhat forwardly adjacent to the bar 3. I further make use of a retaining-rack which comprises opposite side-members 5 5', connectedby cross-bars, as 6 6', the latter being in turn connected by a series of tie-wires 7, collectively, adjacent to the bar 6', curved oppositely to the curvatureeforenamed of the wires 4f, and each leading from the bar 6, over-lying sor or less resiliency, all substantially as indicated in the drawings.

The retaining-rack aforenamed is rockablyv attached to the upright support aforenamed, this being preferably accomplished through the medium of the opposite links 2" 3, pivotally connected, eachat its upper end with the adjacent side-member of said rack, as at points 4 at the opposite sides thereof, and at its lower end with the adjacent forwardly and upwardly extended portion of said support, as at points t at the opposite sides thereof, all as will be clearly understood upon reference being made to 'the drawings.

Where links, as 2 3, are employed, said retaining-rack has a compound rocking action, directly on said links, and, through the medium thereof, indirectly on said support; and in this connection it is essential that the distant edge or marginal portion of said rack be restricted to, and guided upwardly and downwardly along, a course of movement parallel, or approximately so, with the plane of said support. Accordingly, I provide, say, the side-member 2 with a vertical slot-like opening 5, suitably im turned forwardly at its lower portion, and into which freely projects a lateral pintle 6, on which, by preference, there is rotatably mounted an anti-friction roller 7, the cross-bar 6 being, also'by preference, duly extended laterally beyond the adjacent sidemember 2 to form the pintle aforenamed. 'It is desirable, if not essential, that the foregoing features, that is, opening 5, pintle 6 and roller 7 be duplicated, respectively, at the opposite side of the general container,

and same are there indicated, respectively,-

by the numerals 7, 8 9". Again, I purpose that ythe wires of the retaining-rack aforenamed shall, when said retaining-rack shall have been closed relativelyto the upright support aforenamed, overlie the crossbar 8, in alternation with the wires of said upright support, Ithe cross-bar 6 being, ac-

cordingly, so situated as to be movable up- In operation, the retaining-rack afore-l named may be caused to undergo its rocking movements by the Ahand of an operator, or

by suitable mechanism provided to 'that'end; and when'occupying, say, its "horizontal position relatively to the upright support aforenamed,i(see Fig. 5), it serves as a convenient*intake-platform, Awhereby the operation of feeding a dish or similar article into thecontaineras `a whole, 'is greatly facilitated; also when occupying itsclosed, or

more or less `upright position, as shown `in full lines in Fig. 2, it effectively serves to retain within said container, any dish or similar article placed therein, and markedly so in the case of a shallow. dish, as a plate, saucer, or the like, since the saine, by yreason of the measurable wedging effect due -to its own gravity, and exerted between the oppo- Ysitely curved, lower margins of the support and rack aforenamed, respectively, itends to Ykey itself therein; and again, when occupying its open position, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 5, said rack, now standing at a suitable inclination 4to the support aforenamed, serves as a convenient discharge platform, whereby the delivery of a dish, or the like, from the interior of said container, is markedly facilitated. It will be observed v that the relation existing-'between said upright support andy said vretaining-rack, is such that the latter, when undergoing its `opening movement,- gradually lifts any dish occupying the container, until said rack shall have reached its delivery position; whereupon the dish aforenamed moves or slides downwardly therealong, escapes therefrom, and may be taken care of in such manner as the user may elect; also that said rack, in practical operation, may, by reason of its peculiar rocking disposition, be shifted from an approximate upright position, for a retaining effect relatively to any dish or the like occupying said container, to a semi-inverted position, for the automatic delivery of such dish, or similar article.

In the case of a deep dish, such as a cup, bowl, or the like, the self-keying effect hereinbefore mentioned will not be so pronounced as in the case of a shallow dish; and said retaining-rack may be checked at different points in its closing action, accordingly. Hence, to effectually control said rack, and at the same time permit it to assume different positions somewhat out of its limit of closing movement, I provide an elastic controller 9, here shown as taking the form of a spiral spring, interposed between and connected, at its opposite ends, to, vthe side-member 2 and link 2, a similar controller, as 8, being, by preference, also availed of between the side-member 2 and link 3. In this connection, said controller or controllers tend, whenever said rack shall have assumed a position more or less inclined downwardly with respect to the upright support aforenained, to elastically draw said rack in the direction of the limit of its closing movement, or into a holding 'contact with any deep dish, as a cup, bowl,

or the like, which may be situated between it and said support, said rack also, through the medium of said controller or controllers, being elastically restrained against any casual opening action, which might otherwise occur.

It will be seen that my improved dish container yis well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended, and further that the same may be modified to some extent, particularly as regards `the manner whereby an open-work character is imparted vto the retaining rack and upright support aforenamed, respectively, this being essential only to the end that a suitable volume of cleansing iuid may be caused to sharply impinge against the dish, or the like, duly placed Vwithin the container for lthe purpose of undergoing a 'cleansing operation, and various minor details of `the general construction, without departing from the spirit and principle -of my invention.

I claim:

ll. A dish container comprising an openwork support having an openwork retainving-rack invertibly attached thereto.

-2. A dish container comprising an open- "work support having an openwork retainvlli) ing-rack roclrably attached thereto, one of the margins of said retaining-rack being confined to a course of movement approximately parallel With said support.

3. A dish container comprising an openwork support having an openWork retaining-rack linked thereto for a compound rocking action thereon.

4. A dish container comprising an open- Work support having an openvvork retaining-rack rockably attached thereto and provided With a slot-like opening, said retaining-rack having a pintle projecting freely into said opening, whereby its adjacent margin is confined to a course of movement approximately parallel With said support.

5. A dish container comprising an open- Work support having an openvvork retaining-rack loosely interlocled therewith and rockably mounted thereon.

6. A dish container comprising an open- Work support having an openWork invertible retaining-rack loosely interlocked there- With and rockable thereon.

7. A dish container comprising an open- Work support having an openvvork retaining-rack invertibly attached thereto, and a controller, the latter tending to elastically draw said retaining-rack in the direction of said support.

8. A dish container comprising an open- Work support having an openWork retaining-rack invertibly mounted'thereon; means for guiding said retaining-rack, at one margin thereof, along a course of movement approximately parallel with the support aforenamed; and a controller, the latter tending to elastically draw the retainingrack in the direction of said support.

9. A dish container comprising a support embodying a series of suitably-spaced, approximately parallel Wires; a retaining-rack rockably mounted on said support and embodying a series of bed-forming Wires, the Wires of either series aforenamed alternating and loosely interlocked With those of the other series, vvhereby a margin of said retaining-rack is loosely interlocked With the support aforenamed; and means for guiding along the latter the interlocked margin of the retaining-rack.

l0. A dish container comprising an open- Work support having an openvvork retaining-rack rockably attached thereto and provided With a slot-like opening, said retaining-rack being provided with an anti-friction roller operating in said opening.

FRANK W. BEARDSLEY.

Witnesses:

MARTHA A. CANNING, JosnrI-I C. GmLrorLr..

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

